Dear colleagues,
As the United States barrels toward a presidential election—and the rest of the world watches with bated breath—an old word is being used with increasing frequency: socialism. Donald Trump would love people to think Joe Biden is worthy of the label. Biden demurs, but there is a whole crop of politicians across the north Atlantic world who are happy to claim it for their own: Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jeremy Corbyn, not to mention the late Jack Layton in this country.
Socialism is a word with deep roots in the Anglican tradition. Indeed, there was a whole generation of theologians in the early 20th century who identified as Anglican socialists. This past summer of pandemic seemed a good time to read some of their work, particularly that of Vida Scudder. Scudder was born in 1861 and died in 1954. (The Episcopal Church commemorated her last week on October 10, the date of her death.) Her formal career was as a professor of English at Wellesley College in Boston, but she was a faithful member of the Episcopal Church and a prominent lay theologian who wrote widely on Christianity and society. She was also a socialist and a co-founder of the Episcopal Church Socialist League.
I found myself drawn to Scudder’s writing on the nature of democracy and the conditions necessary for its flourishing. A chief concern of hers was the difference in educational attainment between members of different classes, as well as patterns of life that divided society by economic condition. Working classes and wealthy simply did not interact often and she worried about the impact this would have on a society whose government was premised on the idea of equality. For part of her long life, she was involved in the settlement house movement, which sought to bring together people from different classes to live together.
This idea of a shared life was foundational to her work. In one of her articles she writes, “One general truth we must face—a truth very simply, and therefore difficult to practice: in order to promote the common life, it is necessary to live the life in common.” Her words made me think about the kind of divisions that characterize our societies—divisions of race, wealth, political preference, class, or any of the other myriad ways in which we sort ourselves. Scudder’s words also brought to mind the famous prologue of the Gospel of John—“the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us” (1:14). In Christ, God chose to cross a great division—that of human and divine—and share “the life in common” with God’s people.
What we might call the “democratic spirit”—a great theme of Scudder’s—is under new threat and new challenge. In seeking to reinvigourate that spirit, we can find guidance in Scudder—and the model of Jesus Christ.
Faithfully yours,
Jesse
This message was written by Principal Jesse Zink for this week’s Wingèd Ox, a weekly news digest distributed to the college community.